


The Wispermill Secret.

by SebIsSoap



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Heavy Angst, I hope, Possession, Slow Build, but i have to try at some point?, i mean i haven't written much angst, it's raining and im tired, so lets write some angst..., sorry if it isnt that good;
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-20 23:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15544497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SebIsSoap/pseuds/SebIsSoap
Summary: Therion and his party discover something they shouldn't in the town of Wispermill.(I'm not so far in the game to unlock the story of Wispermill, so I'm making one up.)





	1. A Treacherous Path - Therion

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry... this is another chapter series when I haven't even gotten to the good part of Turnabout Reintroduction... but I'm at a block with that one, have been for a while. So here's this! Another thing which'll probably never be finished either.

The day they had left Noblecourt was the day their fates were sealed.

It was a sunny day, nary a cloud in the sky, as Therion, Alfyn, Cyrus, and Tressa began their journey to fill out their map, held graciously by Primrose, who was in her own party with Ophelia, Olberic, and H'aanit. They chose to stay in Noblecourt, though, as to not burden the first four with too many party members.

It was peaceful when they began their walk. Nobody spoke a word, they just quietly admired the scenery around them. 

When they reached the journal, Therion took the liberty of quietly recording the events from five minutes prior, which wasn't that eventful, but they all knew their road was a dangerous one.

After a brief enemy encounter, they reached the entrance of Wispermill road. Everybody remained silent as they stepped onto the path.

From previous experiences that nobody but Therion remembered, there were dangerous dragons near the entrance of Wispermill. Alfyn, Cyrus, and Tressa were cautious, but they didn't know what threat awaited them. Therion did.

"Everyone, be careful," Alfyn spoke, trying not to look to on edge himself, "I can sense something really bad here."

"What could possibly be worse than the giant stone monster you guys told me about?" Tressa asked, shifting her backpack onto her shoulders, so she could grab her weapon if needed.

Nobody answered, and they continued for a short period in silence, when out of the trees swooped two dragons, red and blue patches plastering their scaly white bodies.

Therion looked annoyed and inconvenienced, a sharp contrast to the interested face of Cyrus, and the petrified looks on Alfyn and Tressa.

The four attempted to dodge the winged fiends attacks, and conversely, run away, but they continued to slip. 

For five minutes this continued, as the dragons began to strike down Alfyn, Cyrus, and Tressa. Therion wasn't alarmed, he knew they were unconscious, and they wouldn't be attacked further. The concern was with _him_ not getting injured further. If he could just run away, they'd all make it to Wispermill, where there would surely be an inn.

It worked. He successfully ran away from the beasts, and sprinted to Wispermill to get help in carrying his comrades to the inn.

What greeted him as he walked into the farm-animal filled town was dead silence. The person at the entrance of town stared blankly off into the distance, and never responded to Therion's shouts. 

The same situation with everyone he came into contact with. Eerie silence with a distant gaze.

The only one who broke that rule was the tavern master, who was kind enough to carry the three unconscious members to the inn, but never seemed to disclose any information on why the town was the way it was.

The innkeeper as well, never spoke a word. The nightly fee was posted on a sign behind the man, so Therion, too creeped out to act like himself, set down the correct amount of money on the desk, and walked into an empty room.

It wasn't a peaceful night of sleep. It reminded Therion of the time spent with Darius in jail under the cold watch of a stern guardsmen. He couldn't exactly pinpoint _why_ it reminded him of that lonely jail cell, it just did.

When Therion awoke, he was greeted by the same scenery as when he had fallen asleep; same sun position, same cloud formation.

It was like time had stopped.


	2. A Stopped Town - Tressa

Tressa sleepily opened her eyes as they resisted against the setting sun.

'Wait, setting? How long have I been out?' Tressa's barely conscious mind wondered as she sat up from the squeaky, unkempt mattress, stretching her arms and yawning.

She glanced out of the tiny window and saw farm animals.

Tressa dismissed these at first, as cute sheep and cows, when she noticed something strange.

They were moving in the same pattern.

There was a cow in the nearby field that would dip its head into a bare patch of dirt, pretend like it was grazing on grass, and then would lift its head again. It did that over and over in a seemingly endless manner.

Tressa looked confusedly at the animals who were all doing something similar to the first cow, and she tried to take her eyes off of them as she checked her backpack for any missing items.

The only missing objects seemed to be a few large soulstones that were supposed to be used when everyone got to Saintsbridge for the difficult enemies. It was upsetting to be sure; if not for the fact that Cyrus and she could only do their elemental attacks for so long before they ran out of inspiriting plums.

"Guys!" Tressa called, peeking her head out of her room, "Did you see the animals yet?"

There was only deafening silence, followed by shuffles in the rooms on either side of her.

But the only door to open was the one at the end of the hallway, with Therion's scruffy white hair poking out, with his expression resembling that of Tressa's father in the morning before his mead.

"No. What's wrong with the animals? I'm more concerned with the fact that we've rested for about 5 hours and the sun hasn't shifted a bit," Therion stated flatly, motioning his head at the inside of his room. Tressa looked out her own window, and while she wasn't sure how Therion was keeping track of time, she did note that the sun was in the same position as it was on the Wispermill path.

"Yeah, that's... odd," Tressa mumbled, stepping out into the hallway and walking to Therion's room.

"I just noticed the animals. What the hell is with this town?" Therion asked, stepping out of his own room, and into the hallway to try and wake Cyrus and Alfyn. They were the heaviest sleepers of the group, as their lifestyles before the group's quest did not generally require them to be restless, like Therion, or up early to stock shelves, like Tressa.

Tressa walked over to Alfyn's door, and, for fun, pounded heavily on his door.

"ALFYN!! THE SUN ISN'T MOVING, WAKE UP AND PANIC WITH US!" Tressa shouted at the door.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Alfyn shouted, swinging the door open, "What happened, is somebody sick?"

"No," Tressa shook her head, "Therion and I noticed that the sun hasn't moved at all!"

Alfyn deadpanned.

"Okay... did it occur to you that we might've slept for a full day? We've done that more than once," He stated flatly.

"No, this is different," Therion said, still knocking on Cyrus' door.

"It's only been five hours!" Tressa shouted again, "And the animals keep moving in the same way. I think we're stuck in a time loop!"

Alfyn paused at this statement, and turned his back on Tressa, looking out the window.

Alfyn opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Therion.

"What in the gods' names?! Cyrus!" He shouted.


	3. Cyrus' Studies - Alfyn

"What in the gods' names?! Cyrus!" Alfyn heard Therion shout.

Forgetting his comment of bewilderment against the seemingly stopped time, Alfyn and Tressa sped towards Therion, who was now inside Cyrus' room.

Cyrus kneeled on the floor, staring into nothingness, brows furrowed and mouth slack.

"Cyrus?" Alfyn said, kneeling down to the scholar, as Therion and Tressa moved to the door frame. He was careful not to shake his shoulder, he didn't want to give the man convulsions or send him into a shock. There appeared to be nothing wrong with Cyrus externally, and his pupils weren't dilated at all. Alfyn couldn't determine what was wrong with him.

After a few tense moments of Alfyn checking for signs of disease or trauma, Cyrus blinked and gasped.

Alfyn, who was gently moving Cyrus' hair to check for trauma to the scalp, was startled and leaped up to the door frame, right in front of Therion and Tressa.

"What on Orsterra was that for, Alfyn?" Cyrus groaned, standing up and putting his hands on his hips.

"What do you mean?!" Alfyn shouted, "You were the one who looked like they had gone to the gods' realm!"

Cyrus looked puzzled at this.

"I was enjoying a book?" He said quizzically, tilting his head.  
"If you noticed that I looked a little bizarre when I get into my studies, I apologize, but that was no excuse to rile up my hair!"

"Cyrus," Tressa said, "You weren't reading any book..."

Cyrus shot a confused look at Tressa.

"Of course I was, it's right here!" He said, walking over to where he was sat, picking up a hastily bookmarked book.

Everyone looked embarrassed.

"I was knocking on your door for three minutes," Therion mumbled confusedly, walking towards the direction of the inn's stairs, Tressa tagging along.

"Shucks, sorry Cyrus, we thought you'd left our realm for a moment," Alfyn said sheepishly, putting his hand on his neck.

"It's okay, friend! Don't think too much of it!" Cyrus jovially said, patting Alfyn's back as he walked out of his room.

"Let's go see what food they have to offer at the tavern, eh?" He called as he walked down the stairs.

Alfyn was left in Cyrus' room for a few moments to ponder what he had just seen.


End file.
